This is my first story, so gimme a break. Hope is basically Christine, it explains in later chapters how she truly is Christine. Erik is well.. Erik. Paul is Raoul, and it will all fall into place eventually. Flames? Light me!
The dark, menacing theatre stood in front of them in it's crumbling grandeur, threatening yet beautiful all the same. As the small group stood on the leafy, overgrown walk, one of the old marble pillars leaned in the forceful wind, and tumbled over with a crack and a thump.
'No turning back now, I suppose.' Rang out a clear voice, her fear hidden in the howling of the wind.
'You were the one who started this whole bit…' came the reply.
A quiet giggle answered him, and the woman who spoke first gave him a push, then stepped past to the decrepit steps of the old theatre. She spun around slowly, taking it all in, drinking up the fallen pillars, the stiff old magnolia trees grown right up to the path, the ivy everywhere, the wildness of it all, drinking it up with her eyes. She spread her arms out wide, closed her eyes and let the wind wrap around her, slips its invisible fingers through her dark, curly hair. A feeling of belonging pervaded her senses for a moment- a quick sense of welcoming- but was gone before she opened her eyes.
She felt her friends' eyes on her, watching her movements with bewilderment.
'Are you done, Hope?' Came the icy words of another woman in the group. Her frigid blue eyes narrowed momentarily, her red hair blowing around her face wildly.
'Quite done, Elizabeth. Come on, Josef, Paul, Remy… Let us enter the enchanting realm of music, where power and beauty hold sovereign sway.' She gestured for them all to follow her with a small, delicate hand. The troupe of 8 moved lethargically- none of the others felt this connection to an old, tumble-down theatre that hadn't even been used for years.
Thunder burst overhead, and suddenly nothing held them back- they rushed for the safety of the old theatre. Only Hope remained outside, staring up at the clouded sky, a smile on her face.
'Home…' She whispered, and then stepped inside the great double doors.
